Bioinspired robot shakes a tail to fool fish

December 7, 2012

A robot fake fish is action (credit: Vladislav Kopman et al./Polytechnic Institute of New York University)

Zebrafish are attracted to robots that can convincingly imitate Zebrafish tail motions, researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) found in an experiment in “ethorobotics” — the study of bioinspired robots interacting with live animal counterparts.

Maurizio Porfiri, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NYU-Poly and students used image-based tracking software to analyze the movement of the live zebrafish and provide real-time feedback to the robot.

They found that zebrafish were most attracted to the robot when its tail-beating motion replicated the behavior of “informed fish” attempting to lead “naive fish.” When the robotic fish increased its tail beat frequency as a live fish approached, the zebrafish were likeliest to spend time near the robot.

This study shows the effectiveness of real-time visual feedback in efforts to use robots to influence live animal behavior. The findings may have particular application in wildlife conservation.